embarking was quick and easy. once we were on the ship at 3.30pm we were advised that the ship would be leaving that night instead of the original plan of the next evening due to weather which meant we missed the port of Bergen as it was too late to do anything that day. Big seas means we also missed Shetland Islands and Faroe Islands. instead we made for Iceland and had 2 make up ports of Akureyri and Isafjordur. both tiny stops. We then had to forgo Nanortalik due to 'weather'. When we got to Dagueanay.....well it isn't it was the port town of La Baie, 20 kms from the main city. No shuttles were pour on. We had to find a local bus or taxi of we es bed to go into the city. We reached Quebec, the best port of all and we had to be back on board by 3.30? surely we could have stayed longer given the fact how much we had missed out on previously? into Montreal at 4am? that to me says we definitely could have had longer in Quebec. The included tours were ok. Need more for active people. Not everyone is over 75. The entertainment was average. The singer's were ok but only did 3 showed in 2 weeks. The magician was awesome. bring on more odd this stuff. Comedians etc Classical pianist? yuck. start catering for the 50 year olds. We are your future cruisers. The cabins are nice and clean but not enough storage in deluxe verandah. put more shelving in instead of so much hanging space. had to leave most of our stuff in our suitcase which was frustrating. Noise in the cabin is totally unacceptable. rattling and banging in the walls, creaking like we were on an old Spanish Galleon or on the first fleet to Australia. that is no exaggeration. I still couldn't sleep with earplugs and a pillow over my head. Who wants to be sleep deprived their whole holiday? It was brought to Guest Services attention the 2nd day and their response was" its the weather" not good enough. Even when the seas were calm it was the same. Everyone we spoke to said the same thing, their cabins creaked and rattled also. Italian ship builders obviously can't get that right. Staff were friendly enough but ask for anything out of the ordinary and it's like the biggest deal. Ask for small portion, can't do it. Ask for 2 scoops of icecream, can't be done. Communication was terrible. We never knew when the ship was getting into port or leaving until the night before. couldn't plan anything. when in Reykjavik we dashed back to the ship between ships tours to grab lunch and check the Tax refund process to be told the ship want leaving until 8pm so we would have plenty of time. We got back from our second tour to hear that the ship was leaving at 6 and no time for any last minute shopping at the terminal shops and that the VAT guy was leaving. Asked for assistance again from Guest Services to see if anyone could help us with a Garmin charger for our watches as ours had been left on the previous viking cruise we had gotten off to get on this cruise. never heard from them again. The food was quite good in quality and the head chef Paul was great. constantly checking the quality and his people. Took great pride in his food and his people. We have previously cruised mainly with Azamara. Hard not to compare the 2. I'd choose Azamara every time. We chose this cruise for the itinerary but at the end of the day it missed too many ports. Why not call it for what it is. Transatlantic repositioning cruise. Not one for the destinations. Read Less

It was a boring cruise, couldn’t wait to arrive back to London Entertainment need an improvement They had some cooking classes but they didn’t mention about them in the daily newspaper till the day or two before so they were fully booked Excursions were mostly good Tour guide in Edinburgh was a Chinese girl with very strong accent, so none of us on the bus properly understood about sightseeings there The food was hit and miss, some of the days were really good, some- blunt and boring , shame about curry for example, with quite few staff from India curry was always tasteless Staff was amazing, literally from around the world We did China tour with Viking so decided to do something else with them again , but wish we didn’t go. 2 weeks on that ship was too much. Maybe the crowd was a little bit older than we expected , so no party mood in the evenings If you like quite evenings you will like it there, but we prefer a little bit livelier environment on our holidays Read Less

Our first cruise and we were not disappointed. We booked a penthouse veranda and the room was quiet, well designed, aesthetically pleasing and importantly with a comfortable well sized bed. The food, ambience staff and overall experience was 5*. Be aware that Viking promote and market heavily in the USA and a small number of American guests were loud and rude, especially in the select restaurants with little consideration for other diners. I really don't want to know about how Trump is doing a great job or hear a group of girls whooping while we're enjoying a quiet meal! However we also met some lovely guests and new friends from America, the UK, Australia and Canada and remain in contact. Disappointing that on the final night the boat is being cleared and cleaned ready for the next guests and you feel like you are in the way. The only other issue to be aware of is that although we had registered our Credit Card a small charge of $2.50 was picked up by the card company as suspicious when Viking tried to charge the account at 1am on the morning before leaving and we were not informed before departing. This resulted in me being held and escorted back to the service desk to resolve with my wife concerned, unaware and waiting on the transfer bus with other guests. This was highly embarrassing and could have been resolved if Viking had left a note in the room before we vacated the room. I informed customer service and although the team verbally apologised we received no written apology and again this is less than satisfactory given the cost of the cruise. No follow up from Viking whatsoever other than marketing emails. Read Less

We wanted to see the Northern Lights and rather than take the Hurtegruten route which is heavily promoted in the UK, thought we would take a more luxurious option with Viking. We are both season travellers with over 10 cruises in various parts of the globe. Things did not start well with our arrival in Bergen and depositing our three bags at the terminal, for just two of them to arrive at our stateroom some 2 hours later and the third bag finally arrived 6 hours later!! Having chased guest services there was a very laisser afire attitude which seemed to set the tone for the rest of the trip. We have numerous issues with our cabin including excessive squeaking from the French doors when at sea ( whilst they admitted there was a problem we were offered ear plugs!) A shower that didn't seem to be regulated and periodically ran with scalding water, our toilet broke and it took three phone calls to get a plumber. We ordered room service and early morning tea on a few occasions and every time had to wait ages and there was always something wrong with the order. I felt that the staff were poorly trainef. I overhead waiters discussing their grievances on more than one occasion in the dining room which was incredibly unprofessional. The bar service was shocking and in both The Living Room and Explorer Lounge the waiters would swan around with trays clearing classes and NEVER asking if we would like a drink! We had two of our pre paid trips cancelled, one was cancelled well in advance of departure and we were told we could be credited on the card used to pay for the excursion. This now seems to be a total lie as this did not happen and we were given credit on our shipboard account. The settlement of such credits to UK passengers is by cheque within 60 days! What a joke and there is no reason why credit cards can it be refunded. We had considered a Viking River cruise but having experienced their level of service would not touch them with a barge pole! Read Less

The Viking Sky is indeed a beautiful ship, tastefully decorated with wonderful art. The common areas are inviting, especially the Explorers Lounge on the 7th deck, which offers fabulous ocean vistas. The ship is spotlessly maintained. We have taken several other cruises and were excited about visiting new countries We should have had the best time ever! However, Viking dropped the ball on several fronts, First, the travel department is difficult to deal with. Be forewarned, if you use a travel agent, they will not speak to you. We finally got our itinerary resolved, and then Category 5 Hurricane Irma became a major player. We were booked on Delta to leave Miami at 12:20 pm on 9/8, and a the airport was scheduled to close that afternoon. Our connection time in Atlanta was only 1 hour. Days before, we tried to change our flight to leave earlier, but were denied, unless we wanted to pay Delta a change ticket fee of $3,000 per person. We offered to drive to Atlanta and pick up the itinerary there, but Viking did not go to bat for us. Apparently, they have no pull with Delta. Finally, we called them again on 9/6 and literally begged, and spoke with someone who was willing and able to help. We got grudging approval to begin our flight in Atlanta. The next day, we drove 20 hours to Atlanta in bumper to bumper traffic, normally an 8 1/2 hour drive, and slept at an airport hotel. We noted that our original flight out of Miami was delayed and we would have missed the connection in Atlanta. Then we flew to Norway to begin the cruise. We were exhausted. I had not really slept in 3 days and missed my tour in Bergen. Our room and bathroom were surprisingly small with no excess storage space, but again, tastefully decorated and with quality linens. The bathroom floors are heated, which was fantastic! There was a coffeemaker, but it was up too high for me to use. However, the cappuccino onboard was excellent, so we didn't mind scooting out to get it. The TV system, like most cruises, is not the best for live TV but offers a nice selection of movies. We were anxious to see news of the hurricanes. Most of the time it worked ok, but the live tv was not working the last several days of the cruise. Wifi: On previous trips, I had no problems downloading my photos from my phone to my iPad via iCloud, but the wifi was so slow that they could not download. I was surprised, given the newness of the ship. Several of my emails refused to send and I had to keep trying. Our cruise experienced a lot of rough seas, so they canceled port docking in the Shetland Islands and also one in Greenland. We already had many days at sea scheduled on this transatlantic cruise, but we can't blame Viking for bad weather. Days at sea featured lectures, some bland music, and movies, but not much in the way of interactive or physical activity if the weather did not cooperate, which it did not. It would have been nice to go to a class in the fitness center but they were not offered to my knowledge. The daily afternoon tea is in a particularly lovely venue. Lots of reading time and looking out the windows in the Explorers Lounge. We did see icebergs and a few whales, and a lot of people, myself included, got excited about a rock that initially looked like a whale. One couple went outside one afternoon and had to be rescued because the winds were so strong. The Faroe Islands and Reykjavik were fabulous and we enjoyed our tours there. It was great to be off the ship. Qaqortoq, Greenland was disappointing, as our private tour with Sagalands canceled without notice even though they had confirmed a just few days earlier. The town itself is not really worth a stop, especially if arriving early on a Sunday morning when the few establishments in town are closed. Quebec is a charming European style city for walking and touring. The food on board is very good. Dinner in the restaurant is slow, often taking 2 hours for a 3 course meal, but we had nowhere to go and not much else to do. Our primary waiter was friendly and personable. Thankfully, our friends are great conversationalists! The buffet restaurant was fresh and well presented, and was a good option when we did not want an overly long meal. Fellow passengers on the ship were generally highly educated, pleasant, and courteous. We almost missed our flight home. For a 10 am flight, our bus left at 8:15 for a 40 minute drive to the airport. We were unable to check in to our flights onboard because the internet was too slow and it timed out. We got to the check in desk, and were told that had we arrived 5 minutes later, we would have missed the cutoff for checking luggage for an international flight. Again, unnecessary stress should have totally avoidable, ending this long cruise on a questionable note. Do I recommend this cruise? Although this beautiful ship is 5 star rated and some people love endless days at sea, it was too sedate for me. The quality of the lectures was excellent, but I have had much more rollicking fun on other less expensive cruises where more varied and interactive onboard activities were offered. Even bingo, karaoke, disco, dueling pianos, a bad art auction, penny poker, flower arranging, Hawaiian theme night....none are great but something that makes you laugh! I also learned to NEVER book flights through a cruise line again. Maybe it was the weather..... Read Less

We chose this cruise because of its itinerary. We cruised from Bergen to Montreal. To start with, we had booked air through the Viking Air department, something we will never do again. We had assumed they would be more proactive on our behalf than it turned out they were prepared to be. Just days before departure we were facing Hurricane Irma, and they made no effort to fly us out early. We spent a precious 48+ hours begging to be allowed to fly out of Atlanta and drop our Miami-Atlanta segment before they finally decided that yes, they would allow us to do that. If we hadn't persevered, we would have missed connections, and missed the cruise. As it was, because they delayed so long, it took 20 hours to drive to Atlanta as many of the mandatory evacuation orders (including ours!) had already been issued, and all of South Florida were on the roads north. The ship is gorgeous, and we found the food to be outstanding as well. But for me, a cruise is all about the EXPERIENCE and here they failed miserably. While there were a few outstanding staff, most were inept, and confusion abounded. Everyone was nice, but no one seemed to work as a team. In the dining rooms, we got wrong orders, we were asked repeatedly what the order WAS, and though we bought the premium wine package, we frequently had to wait a half hour at dinner before we got any wine. (if you stayed with the included wines it was much better--you got service immediately). One night my husband had to get up and speak to the maitre d' because it had been an hour between courses. We were constantly aggravated at dinner, which is NOT how you want to be! We liked our cabin, the heated floors in the bathroom, and the availability of free laundry. And I must say our cabin steward, Ronel, was the BEST we have had in over 30+ cruises! But the cabin really lacked storage space--2 drawers and a little space in the nightstands. We asked for, and got, about 30 extra hangers and ended up hanging just about everything. Wifi was slow, but we appreciated that it was available and complimentary, so no complaints really. The Spa was gorgeous. I didn't try spa treatments. Yoga was offered but as a long-standing yoga practitioner, I didn't think it was age appropriate. There was a serious miss-match between the demographics of the passengers and the yoga routine offered. They should be offering YIN or INYNGAR yoga, and instead, the teachers' background was Ashtanga. When she started out doing a jump-back chaturanga, I knew the class was doomed. The poor ladies in the class did their valiant best, but they could have really hurt themselves with the routine we were put through. Explorers Lounge was lovely, and here, the staff was lovely as well. Skilled, pleasant--really really excellent. Lectures were excellent and a feature we really appreciated was the ability to watch them later on recorded TV. We were frequently busy at the times the lectures were 'live' but we managed to watch/listen to every one of them thanks to the recorded TV. LOVED this! Very much enriched the voyage. The shore excursions: included ones were so-so, but the optional ones that we paid for were all outstanding. Our tour guide in Quebec, Marie, on the Quebec Discovery Day was absolutely outstanding. BUT!!! The WORST feature of the entire cruise was the daily disembarkation, which was TERRIBLE. Viking really needs to learn how to get 900 people off a cruise ship. We waited almost an hour to get on the tender at L'Anse Aux Meadows, and then sat on the tender for 45 minutes before we could get off. This was the worst, but even regular disembarkations were routinely a bottleneck.. And finally, our transfer to the airport at the end of the cruise. Again, the staff showed their inexperience, to be charitable. Our bus departure was scheduled for 8am. Our flight was at 10am. And it was a 45 minute drive to the airport. We only made our flight because my husband had status on the airline, so we were able to use an expedited check in--but even at that, the agent said we were the last to be able to get our luggage on board. These kinds of repetitive 'glitches' made me think that although we had paid a 5-star price for this cruise, we did NOT receive a 5-star cruise. We have cruised well over 30 times, at various price points, and many different cruise lines, and this is the first time we felt we did not get our money's worth. There were just too many issues overall. Read Less

Viking had been recommended by friends. Overall the ship is beautiful and service is excellent. Tours were disappointing. For the most part the tour guides did not offer comprehensive in-depth perspectives. Many just plain boring and blah. The worst were in Norway where the guides are not local. The best tour was Soviet Flashback in Estonia where the guide gave us a rendition of what life was like in the Soviet times. It was excellent. Estonia is a lovely city and easy to get around, but again, we had a pretty lackluster experience on the included city tour. Viking needs to work on checking out their tour operators and perhaps hire their own rather than use outside agencies. We were not alone in our criticism of the tours in general. Our Russian guide was good although she got sick and stayed with us on the bus and passed on her cold to me. Best to do your homework and research cruises before wasting your money. Read Less

The ship, crew, cabin, and ports were truly wonderful. The experience was tarnished only by the Viking booked flights being non-existent when we arrived at the airport. We were two of 13 cruisers, that I know of, who had to pay for new IcelandAir tickets to get on our return flights after already having paid Viking! There were no IcelandAir desks at the Arlanda airport. We had to speak with SAS reps who could not even sell new tickets. The only way to purchase new tickets was to call Icelandic Air or use their website with less than 1hour before boarding. The quasi Viking reps at the airport had no authority to rectify this. Multiple calls to Viking in CA at 6am on Saturday resulted in voice mail only. This happened this morning (8/12) so there has been no resolution (repayment of airfare) yet. This performance by Viking confirms that Tauck will be my travel partner of choice in the future. Read Less

New Ship - Rave Reviews plus the itinerary was the reason we chose Viking for our cruise in July 2017. I went with my sister on the Viking Homelands Cruise for 15 days Bergen-Stockholm. The best aspects of our Viking Cruise 1 Absolutely spotless in every area 2 The best Free Spa use I have ever seen on a ship and the best Spa Experience 3 Heather our Cruise Director was the best I have ever experienced. She was Articulate-Funny and very Talented The worst aspects 1 There were no Hor d'oeuvres served in the bars prior to dinner. Nuts every night or the same totally dry 3 pastry and only pastry, cracker size nibbles in the Atrium Bar. 2 Mamsens and the Atrium served the same variety of open sandwiches the whole cruise no variety whatsoever. The Pool side Bistro had the same menu the entire 15 days. 3 Chefs Table - The night we booked they had an asian theme, you do not get to choose and there was only one course we enjoyed. Each theme lasts for 3 days. Again more variety and choice needed. 4 Classical music was the only form of entertainment in the Atrium. They had a very good guitarist in the Upstairs Bar but again the music was go to sleep type. Very little other entertainment only 2 sessions of Trivia the whole cruise. Shows were very mediocre and ran for 40 minutes starting at 9.15 each night. The night club was ok but closed at 12pm. No other entertainment on board apart from enrichment lectures. 5 I absolutely hated the three tier system they had for drinks. a) Wine or Beer with meals. b) Silver package which was great as far as mixed drinks go but the wine choice is extremely limited with 1 type of Reisling, 1 Chardonnay, 1 Pinot Grigio which they ran out of on the second Day, 1 Shiraz, 1 Cab Sav and 1 Merlot, again more choice needed. c) Pay as you go. This meant if you were sitting with a group of people it was difficult to order a round of drinks. This is the first time I have come across this on a cruise and it meant the lounge areas were basically empty at night. As a summary we found the destinations amazing, the staff excellent but it was really disappointing and in fact quite boring as far as cruising goes. You just could not compare Viking to a Regent Cruise for instance. I have cruised P&O, Princess, Holland America, Seabourn, Orion, Ponant Yachts, Paul Gauguin, Azamara and Regent. Viking was the most boring with the least variety in food and drink. I am so glad I haven't booked them for our River Cruise next year. Read Less

We got a great deal for a deluxe veranda cabin. It was a perfect way to see countries like Norway, Russia, Poland, Estonia, Denmark, and Sweden that were on our bucket list but would have taken forever to tour as individual trips or by a land tour. We ate at the World Cafe most of the time because it was flexible with our schedule. The food was great with plenty of choices and the opportunity to ask for a specially prepared dish to our liking. The main disappointment was not being told in advance that we needed a visa to tour St. Petersburg or to book a local land tour in advance. We would have preferred to at least have the option to book a land tour of our choice. And with no visa we were facing a full day on the ship in one of the major destinations of the trip. Fortunately we were accommodated on a Viking land tour at the last minute, but we paid a premium price for it. My wife stopped to take a photo in G'dansk and got separated from our group. I had no idea where she was and spent the whole time there running around looking for her. She ended up joining another group but since the tour guides didn't have a way to communicate with each other I didn't even know she was safe until I finally found her at the end of the day. I don't know why the guide couldn't call Viking and have Viking ask the other guides if they had picked up a straggler from another group. It would have put my mind at ease so I could enjoy that beautiful city. The other hassle was having out flight out of Newark cancelled at the last minute. The only thing we could do was rent a car and drive to JFK to fly out and then pay for a driver home from Newark. We had planned to simply drive to Newark and home in our own car. It ended up costing us over $200 extra for the car rental to get to JFK and for the driver who drove us home from Newark. Read Less

The problems were not with the ship or the crew but with the Viking company itself. They need to understand that when you have an emergency phone number for guests to call when they need help someone should answer the phone. Or how about the fact that they make plane reservations for guests and have people arriving at 6am, and have to wait until 2pm (8 hours) until they can access the rooms. The hotel couldn't accommodate the number of people waiting with places to sit. Another flaw in the system was the emergency evacuation drill. The instructions were to meet in entertainment room on deck 2. There were about 200 guests present. The staff stood on the stage and stated that life vests would be passed out in a real emergency. After talking with several guests we all agreed that in a real emergency the room would be in total chaos. We were not given any information of where we would be sent to board life boats. The most alarming thing was that passing out life vests to the guests would probably be a total disaster, And like other cruise lines that I've been on the lack of information would cause total panic. If the Viking upper management read and evaluate the comments provided by the guests then things would have to change. Otherwise I would hope that the company sticks to river cruises and gives up on the ocean ones. Read Less

We booked this cruise, Into the Midnight Sun, after having read an article in our local Melbourne paper from a travel journalist who cruised the Norwegian coast and raved about the experience. A combination of length of cruise, itinerary, finishing port in Greenwich, London and travel inclusions made us choose Viking Ocean. We were the first people to use Viking from our particular travel agency. I won’t reiterate all the glowing comments made by others about the ship, Viking Sea. They’re all accurate. We loved the clean-cut Scandinavian design and interestingly, I found that our cabin had more drawer space than we actually needed. It was always immaculately clean. The staff were uniformly cheerful, polite, friendly and efficient. They appeared to genuinely enjoy each other’s company and their work. The food was fine without being outstanding in any of the dining venues. After trying all the restaurants, eventually, we chose to use the buffet only. The scenery was beautiful and the weather kind. Our port stops were varied and interesting. The exception to this was Edinburgh where we were docked quite a long distance from the city in Rosyth. By the time our included tour reached the city centre, it left us with very little time to do much of anything. Despite our upgraded cabin class, by the time we were allowed to book optional excursions, many were already filled and this was very disappointing. We were further frustrated because we heard that on some of those optional excursions that we missed out on, there actually had been extra places available and the included tours we took, were full to capacity. I had been involved in the Cruise Critic forum prior to the start and noticed that it was a very small group which kind of petered out. We went to the meet and mingle and thought that while it was pleasant, we were glad that the staff was there, to supplement our small numbers. If Viking were to make its guests aware of this valuable site prior to the start of the cruise, I’m sure that many people would appreciate the chance to make connections through it. Our cruise fare included the Silver Drinks Package. While this might seem to be a good thing, we are not big drinkers and it’s frustrating to be obliged to pay for something that we didn’t really appreciate or get good value from. Likewise, the choices of wine in this package were just so/so. We are fit and in our mid 60’s and observed that this cruise seemed to cater not just for an older demographic, but an elderly crowd. There were many infirm, frail people who clearly had mobility issues and caused long, slowly moving lines to develop behind them as they clambered on and off the ship and the tour busses. While we acknowledged that seats at the front of the busses should be reserved for the disabled, we noticed that their occupants were never asked to wait until the busses emptied before their disembarking. This meant that many times we were impacted by these people who were either unaware or inconsiderate of the frustration they were causing to those of us stuck behind them. Even though it has impressive ships, crews, fares and itineraries, Viking Ocean doesn’t quite live up to its potential and for the reasons stated, we’ll likely return to Oceania for our next cruise. Having said all this, we still had a very good time and would wholeheartedly recommend travel to this part of the world. Read Less

We returned from a fifteen day cruise, "Into The Midnight Sun" from Bergen to London on the Viking Star. We had sailed on this ship soon after she entered service in 2015. It was a Christmas cruise on the Mediterranean. While the very talented singers, dancers and other acts were great, their material wasn't. The same (not first class) shows that we saw two years ago were replayed on this last cruise. They were stale then and even more so now. The spy show was stupid...not funny ..not even entertaining. The Ship's entertainers, including the couple who sang in the night club, the Assistant Cruise Director and Cruise Director produced a fabulous "Salute To Broadway" that had everyone on their feet. FINALLY!!! a production which showcased their talents, rather than wasting it Viking should be ashamed to ask customers to return, when they can't be bothered to even provide a worthy entertainment experience. Once was a disappointment. Twice and you're losing a customer. The ship, the cabins, the food, the excursions and especially the staff were all amazing. This is a corporate failure. Read Less

The itinerary looked promising and some friends had raved about their experience on a similar Viking cruise in 2015. It's OK, but Viking has some problems: - Viking requires payment of the entire cost of the cruise at the time of booking, in our case $14,000 paid 19 months before scheduled departure. - Viking has no traveler support while passengers are trying to reach somewhat obscure departure points, such as Bergen, Norway. We found ourselves stranded in London on a Viking arranged flight. Viking offered no assistance to us in re-booking our flight when we missed the connection to Bergen. - While their Silver Spirits package looked promising, they ran out of the only India Pale Ale a few days into the cruise and did not restock it despite numerous opportunities to do so. Their "premium" wine choices were better than the non-premium wines, which were truly inferior, but they were nothing to write home about. How can a cruise line that caters to Americans run out of tasty craft beer? - When we sought assistance for the considerable expense we incurred in making alternative flight arrangements, they promised to try to make it right. In the end, this was not the case. We won't be cruising on Viking anytime soon, and we ever change our mind, we'll use a travel agent to make our flight arrangements. - Their included tours were average to poor, with one or two exceptions. The average cost of a premium tour was in excess of $150 per person, but we felt compelled to do so at several ports. Read Less

My husband and I booked a Baltic cruise with Viking in early 2016 for a May 2017 trip. Having been on an amazing Viking river cruise, we convinced three other couples to sign up too.....what a mistake! Our trip had a rough start due to weather/airline problems in the US. When we finally arrived at Bergen, we were whisked away from the airport before being allowed to get our luggage.....so we were without our suitcases for two days. Because we had missed several events, we requested verification from the concierge of those missed activities for our insurance claim. To say they were less than helpful is an understatement. On a happier note, the housekeeping crew was amazing, the restaurant crews were very friendly and helpful. The food was average, entertainment was good, the cruise director was poor, and the "historical insights" lectures were very poor. I was embarrassed that I had encouraged the three other couples to come. Viking does an amazing job with river cruises, but they need help with the ocean cruise business. This will be the last one I take with them. Read Less

We chose this cruise because of the route and stops on this cruise The cruise was from Bergen Norway stopping at the Shetland Islands, the Farro Islands, Iceland, Greenland, the Viking archeological site in Newfoundland, and then down the St.Lawrence River to Montreal. This was the first transatlantic crossing for the Viking Star which was first put into service in 2015 and had been in service in Europe. We have done Viking river cruises and since we liked the stops on the route we thought we would try a Viking ocean cruise. The ship is new and quite nice. It is very well maintained and the crew is friendly and helpful. The food was excellent with a very nice variety. Overall I would rate the cruise as average. First of all the cruise is not all inclusive which in today's market is really out of place. You will be charged $14 per person per day as gratuities for the staff. On our 15 day cruise that added an additional $420 to the cost of the cruise. Viking apparently doesn't want to tell you the true cost of the trip by including these costs in the ticket. Beer, wine and soft drinks are included at lunch and dinner and you are charged for them at all other times. You can purchase an all inclusive drink package but the cost is quite costly There is a mini fridge in your room and you have four soft drinks in it. You can drink them without charge but if you want more you are charged $2 for each soft drink. I personally find it to be insulting that soft drinks are not included in the price of the cruise. Service in the restaurants was spotty at best. At times service was acceptable but never really good and other times it was just plane bad. I never saw any service around the pool or lounge areas. There is one main bar on the first deck with a few tables around it and here there was service. In the surrounding lounge area if there was service I never saw any. We always had to go to the bar and get our own drinks. One aspect of the restaurant service that I found especially discusting was when you finished one course of your meal the waiters would remove your dishes but would place your used silverware on the table for you to use on the next course. I would expect this type of service in a truck stop but not here. Overall I would rate the cruise experience as average. You will have a good time and you will enjoy the cruise but Viking is not one of the top tier of cruise lines. Don't expect a Viking ocean cruise to be the same as a Crystal or Seaborne cruise. These cruise lines have better amenities and service. However as I said you will still have a good experience on Viking Read Less

Ship - Elegant Scandinavian design, well built. Glass shower stall defect, poor soundproofing of TV sets, broken coffee machine in World Cafe entire trip. Engines probably not running at full power most of the trip. Excursions - Great port talks, poor coordination of shuttle service at Lisbon and Gibraltar, poor coordination with local tour operators in Paris, Gibraltar and Cartagena. Guest Relations - Lack of protocol for response to onboard emergency situation, poor guest service, inadequate onboard communication with passengers. Details We were booked on the August 8, 2015 Passage Through Western Europe a year ago and paid in full in December 2014. We also booked the air travel through Viking Ocean. We travelled with another couple in celebration of both our 30th wedding anniversaries. The air itinerary was delivered to us 30 days before departure (website indicated that air itinerary would be provided 75 days prior) and cruise document was delivered two weeks before departure. Two days before our flight departure, we got a call and an e-mail (dated four days before departure) from Viking informing us that there was a change in the itinerary due to mechanical problems. The ship did not complete the previous Viking Homeland cruise and was docked in Tallinn waiting for repair parts. We were informed that we would still be flown to Bergen, spend two nights in a hotel and then flown to Copenhagen on August 10, 2015 by charter airline to join the ship there. We had the option to cancel the whole trip and get a full refund. We decided to go ahead as it was too late to find an alternate cruise on such short notice. We were flown to Bergen through Iceland Air, a no frill airline. Food was available for purchase in their Economy Class. Viking booked the Economy Comfort Class for us which meant we had food and drinks. The food was just boxed items heated up. The pleasant aspects were the short flight to Reykjavík (seven hours) and the use of their Saga lounge during the stopover. The other couple, who booked at the same time through the same travel agent, was flown to Bergen with long stopovers in Newark and Oslo. Once in Bergen, we were greeted by a large contingent of Viking representatives and guided onto buses. We were lucky to be put up at the Quality Hotel Edvard Greig, a modern hotel near the airport. We were provided with buffet dinner and breakfast. The next day we were taken on a free excursion to visit the Hardanger Fjord. On the third day we were taken on a morning panoramic city tour of Bergen before having lunch at the Radisson Blu Hotel. Then we were taken by coach to Bergen airport and flown to Copenhagen by charter airline. So far everything was well organized given the difficult circumstances. Once in Copenhagen we were taken to the ship by coach and embarkation was a bit tedious. They tried to use a portable machine to scan our passports which took some time. Then we were given a printed boarding pass to get on the ship and after we entered our unlocked room, we found the room keys on the desk. The ship was elegantly designed and beautifully built. Nice touches included leather wrapped handrails and door handles, glass shower stalls, heated bathroom floor, all balcony cabins and free wi-fi. After having dinner at the World Cafe (buffet style), we went to our cabins. At midnight I was called by my friend's wife to assist him with seeking emergency attention for an exploded glass shower panel in the bathroom. Fortunately he suffered a very minor injury since he was inside the shower. For details, please check the cruisecritic.com forum on "Viking Star Injury" thread. If my friend's wife was in the bathroom at the time, she would have suffered serious injuries. In any case, my friend was told to call the Explorer Desk with the emergency but there was no answer. So he and I went down to Deck 1 and found a bartender who took us to the Explorer Desk. The night manager was shown iPhone photos of the situation and he said he would send someone up after he took care of passengers sitting in front of him. After twenty minutes, two housekeeping staff were sent up to clean up the glass in the bathroom. Another ten minutes later, another staff brought keys to move my friend and his wife to another cabin for the night. No staff onboard actually took the incident very seriously and no one came to assess the damage or to take any photo. The next morning we cancelled our Copenhagen city tour to deal with the incident. The Guest Relations Manager took us down to the medical center as my friend suffered very slight injuries. The nurse in the medical center was the first one to take the incident seriously and asked my friend to fill out an incident report. Upon seeing the photo of the broken glass in the bathroom, the doctor called the Chief Officer down to take a statement from us. We sent our photos to him via e-mail to document the incident. My friend and his wife were given a choice of moving to a different cabin or being flown home. They were flown home because his wife feared for her safety even in another cabin. Viking did not seem to know what caused the defect and they tried to downplay the situation. When my friend got home, he found on cruisecritic.com a similar incident on the July 11, 2015 cruise. The photos of the bathroom defect were strikingly similar. That left us onboard to make the best of the situation. As the modified itinerary skipped the overnight London stop, it was a disappointment to us. Viking tried to make up for it by sending the ship through the Kiel Canal, a very scenic full day canal transit. A canal guide was onboard as we travelled through to point out the highlights. Then the ship sailed out to the North Sea and arrived at Le Harve for the Paris excursions. The "Paris On Your Own" tour was provided free to passengers who chose to go. After that it was two sea days sailing to Lisbon. I am not normally affected by motion sickness but I felt seasick on Saturday August 15 when the ship was swaying sideways considerably. I thought it was just the Atlantic waves. At 9 a.m. on August 17 on our scheduled arrival time at Lisbon, the Captain came on the ship's speakers to inform us that we would late arriving in Lisbon because of "engine maintenance" issues two days ago. That immediately rang a bell for me. Fellow passengers started talking and a few noticed that there was only one propeller running on Saturday. Another passenger staying near the stern on Deck 4 noticed that the swaying subsided when she felt an engine coming back on line. She was sure the ship ran on one engine most of the time (except when it came out of the Copenhagen harbour and when transiting through the Gibraltar Strait) since she could feel the difference between the vibration of one or two engines from her cabin. My conclusion was that the ship was not 100% "serviceable" as the Captain indicated upon embarkation. Some passenger were told by Viking Ocean management that the new engine parts had to be "run in". The highlight of the cruise has to be the dining experience. The buffet was very well presented and the quality of the cuisine was high. The Chef's Table presented a 5 course menu with 4 wine pairing every night. The first part of the cruise was "A Gastronomic Journey Through Time". They change it to "Asian Panorama" after four days and finally ended with "La Route Des Indes". The best was the last one but I felt that the chef put a lot of thought into preparing each dinner. Manfredi's was the Italian restaurant featuring an extensive Italian menu. The Florentine steak was well prepared. There were only three wine stewards onboard and most of the French and Italian wines were newer vintages. The wines were relatively expensive for a cruise ship but they do not charge corkage for wines brought onboard by passengers. The afternoon tea at Wintergarden was another event that we looked forward to everyday. The scones were wonderful and the tea selection was impressive. The staff that I encountered were all very professional and pleasant. Viking Ocean hired a lot of staff from other ocean cruise lines and they brought with them a lot of experience. I have to mention Tomaslav, the headwaiter at The Chef's Table. He was a good listener and very observant. Once I mentioned that my dining reservations were all missing from "My Calendar", he immediately invited me to dine at his restaurant that evening. His staff Paul (waiter) and Michael (assistant waiter) knew how to serve properly. Also providing very professional service were the staff at The Restaurant: Nicholas (Maitre D') Routh (headwaiter) and Ariel (waiter). Of particular mention was The Restaurant sommelier, Arthur, who knew his wines well. Cabin stewards on Deck 5, Ivana and Michael, were very pleasant and efficient. Our cabin was made up quickly whenever we put out the sign. Junar, Manfredi's waiter, was serving us in the morning at the World Cafe and he was so pleasant that we went to his section every day. Entertainment was the other enjoyable area. The eight singers and dancers performed a number of production shows and other cabaret style shows throughout the cruise. There were also other performers onboard including a keyboard player, a violinist and a funny vocalist. The enrichment lectures were also surprisingly interesting. Captain Lorimer Burn, a retired airline pilot, gave four lectures on various aspects of aviation and they were so captivating that my wife wanted to attend all of them. Shore excursions were somewhat lacking in organization. There were lapses in communication between the local tour operators and Viking Ocean which resulted in disappointment to some guests. About thirty of us were left at the base of the cable car at Gibraltar after our visit to the Rock. We were told there would be a shuttle to take us back, but it did not show up for thirty minutes. There was no Viking representative anywhere to be seen so I ended up organizing everyone to stay together. A fellow passenger called the local Viking number but there was no answer. Eventually a shuttle did come around to pick everyone up but some passengers were late for the next tour. In Lisbon, a similar situation happened where there was no Viking representative waiting at the shuttle bus station at the Rossio Square. There were many tour bus and city bus stopping at that point and Viking passengers had to assume they would be picked up. I saw some passenger being turned back to the ship when they left for a wine tasting tour in Cartagena when there was not enough space on the buses. I also heard from fellow passengers that "The Louvre Museum and Paris Tour" was short 8 lunch tickets at the Eifel Tower. Eventually those 8 passengers got their lunch at the Eifel Tower but they had to rush through it. There were other minor issues such as poor soundproofing in the cabin. I heard the audio of TV programs from other cabins even when my own TV was turned off. I thought it was my neighbour so I politely checked with them. It turned out that they were not watching that type of program. Therefore, the sound must have come from some tubing containing the cables for the TV from decks above or below. The noise level is such that it may cause some passengers to have difficulty falling asleep. The onboard excursion system was not synchronized with the dining reservation system. Before we embarked, I was able to see all my excursion and dining reservations online under My Calendar. Once onboard, due to a computer glitch, each excursion was shown twice and none of the dining reservations showed up. When I booked additional dining at Manfredi's, the system did not know that I was away on excusion. In summary, this August 8, 2015 cruise felt like a "shake down" cruise. There is potential for improvement in most areas. When everything is working in a few years' time, this would be a five star cruise (of course with the price tag that comes with such status). I personally do not feel that I got value for the cruise fare that I paid for with this sailing. Read Less

It is regrettable that our cruise, which has been exceptional, began with very poor arrangements. We understand that the boat engine failure required Viking to make last minute arrangements for more than 600 people. However the choice to locate a group of people at a hotel that was more than 100 km from the airport, with beds that were difficult to sleep on because they were no more than 30” wide and had poor mattresses, and poor food was very questionable decision and not keeping with Viking’s high standard. The long drive from the airport and a sleepless night made the next day difficult and certainly is not what we paid fir. We appreciate that we were relocated the following evening to the Edward Grieg hotel which was comfortable. The relocation went smoothly, both at the airports and the transfer to the ship. The staff was helpful and we appreciated the greeting at the ship and the glass of champagne. Our luggage was in our stateroom when we reached it. The statement room was nice and comparable to the best we have had with other cruise lines. The cruise has been wonderful. The boat is beautiful beyond our expectations. The food and the service is better than that we have experienced on any other cruise, including our Viking River cruise. The staff is both helpful and friendly. Our request for service are met very promptly. The flexibility in choosing the restaurants and the variety and selections from menu has been very good. We have enjoyed the fjord, Copenhagen, and Paris tours, although we do not understand why the scheduling precluded the planned Wednesday afternoon arrival and Rouen tour. We appreciate the $500 shipboard credit and the 30% credit toward a future cruise. We do feel a larger credit toward a future would have been appropriate. Read Less